Access to Knowledge: a guide for everyone Page: 34
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2. FAIRER LAWS AND ENFORCEMENT PRACTICES
Lea Shaver of Yale University's Information Society Project, argues
that in assessing copyright law our touchstones should be access, af-
fordability and participation. Our tools to uphold these values can be
framed in terms of consumer protection, human development and hu-
man rights.
Copyright shapes affordability and access because as the scope of
rights expands, the more control is centralised and the less competition.
It also shapes participation, because under current law the amateur who
wants to build upon existing works is at a disadvantage, and risks running
afoul of others' rights.
Distribution of copyright materials, and the ability to shift them be-
tween media and devices, is now much easier and cheaper than before.
Yet copyright protection is ever increasing, and this cannot be justified
by the need for additional incentives for creativity. Rather, it reflects the
problem of rent-seeking ("the Disney effect" - so termed for the extension
of the copyright term to avoid Disney's loss of its early Mickey Mouse as-
sets) .
These negative impacts fall most heavily of all on developing coun-
tries. Developing countries are net importers of copyright material. They
are in no position to be magnanimous in protecting the rights of copy-
right owners. Yet, they are bowing to pressure and granting more protec-
tion and rights to copyright owners than they need to by their treaty obli-
gations. This has grave implications for the access to knowledge of their
people. By increasing the restrictions and excluding the limitations and
exceptions, they are permitting for less and less information to be freely
available in the public domain. Such curtailment serves the interests of a
privileged few at the expense of the millions in need.6
Norm setting at WSIS
The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), held in 2003 and
2005, brought together civil society and private sector actors to observe
(and to a limited extent, influence) the development of an intergovern-
mental accord on the principles and actions necessary for building an
inclusive information society.
The form in which the theme of access to knowledge and information
was addressed in the WSIS output documents was as one of 11 main ac-
tion lines in the Geneva Plan of Action, in which it was declared in 2003
5 http://a2knetwork.org/access-knowledge-internet-governance-forum
6 Kanniah, Rajeswari, CI Study on Copyright and Access to Knowledge. Asia Pacific Con-
sumer, 43 & 44 2006, Nr. 1 & 2, op. cit. (as in n. 15), p. 17.34
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Noronha, Frederick & Malcolm, Jeremy. Access to Knowledge: a guide for everyone, text, 2010; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc33297/m1/44/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .